A café-bar and community space will be added to the re-modelled ground floor area of Dorchester's Corn Exchange building.

The move comes in a bid to make the building more welcoming to a wide audience – at a cost of an estimated £700,000 to £750,000.

Other changes, which have already taken place, include improvements to the main hall, racked seating and new changing rooms, as well as extensive work to secure the building's roof.

Dorset Council has approved planning permission for the latest changes Dorchester Town Council wants to make to the grade II listed Tudor-style building, which dominates the town centre.

The alterations include moving the existing toilets to where the bar is currently situated, and creating a new bar/cafe to the front, right-hand side of the building in what is known as the Magistrates' Room.

A new community space will be created on the opposite side of the entrance by removing the existing toilets, with a new reception area just beyond that, accessible from both the front door on High East Street and the side door from North Square.

Dorchester Arts currently manages the building on behalf of the town council with its offices within the complex.

Said a statement from Crickmay Stark Architects to support the planning application: "The south end of the building is tired and no longer fulfils the needs and requirements of Dorchester Arts.

"The proposals intend to similarly refurbish this part of the building, to make better use of it and bring life back to this part of the building to make it a welcoming community asset."

Mark Tattersall from Dorchester Arts said he hopes the changes will make the building more attractive and welcoming, adding to the number of people using it.

"The position of the toilets on the corner opposite the Town Pump and Cornhill means that the view of the building from these busy areas is unattractive and can give the impression that the building is closed," he said.

"An unwelcoming and cold impression is reinforced on entering the building via the main doors, as the hallway is dark and narrow, making it hard to create a suitably welcoming ambience into what should be one of the town's most open and hospitable buildings."

Subject to securing all of the funding from a combination of sources, it is hoped that work will start in the summer of 2024 with the phasing of the works keeping most of the building open to the public as the revamp progresses over a period of around five months.

An exhibition of the proposed changes will be held in the Corn Exchange this Sunday, September 9, between 11am and 3pm, as part of the town's Heritage Open Day, which will also see a number of other public buildings open for free.